Sanco accused of abandoning its mandate
The former secretary pointed out that in the past two to three years, Sanco has only held two separate national conferences.
A former high-ranking regional office-bearer at the Ekurhuleni regional offices of Sanco has lamented what he described as the disappearance of the organisation’s presence at a time when a large percentage of consumers are in dire need of its voice, services and visibility.
Speaking boldly about what he termed to be the dysfunctionality of the non-existent leadership, Zulu Ratswana, a former Sanco zonal secretary for the Vosloorus branch, lambasted what he claimed are ruminants of a Sanco that has been consumed by factionalism, greed and the lack of leadership and direction.
Such leadership, according to him, has completely deviated the organisation from its noble purposes.
The former secretary pointed out that in the past two to three years, Sanco has only held two separate national conferences.
“Sanco has always been part of the alliance and members are expected to send a delegation to give inputs at the ANC’s January 8 statement. But for the past two to three years, this has not happened,” explained Ratswana.
“What is the leadership of Sanco paying attention to right now if they are not focusing on the prevailing dire times due the pandemic?”
He described the ‘faltering and failing’ leaders as focusing only on their personal issues, no longer representing the interest of the local communities and pursuing personal agendas to the detriment of local communities.
For Sanco to deal effectively with these impediments, Ratswana believes the only way forward is for the remaining progressive leadership in the organisation to call for a national convention.
“This way they will be able to focus on and deal with all that needs to be dealt with and fixed within Sanco and get the organisation back on its feet again,” Ratswana explained.
According to Ratswana, although Sanco is a national body, the internal leadership strife and domestic wrangles in some of the regional offices have rendered the organisation dysfunctional.
He cited Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape as the only fully operational provinces.
Ratswana indicated that Gauteng, KZN, North West, Free State and West and Eastern Cape as barely operational, but divided and with very little activity and service provided by the structures to the local communities.
Asked if there was an administrative head office where members of the public could report their frustrations, Ratswana simply shook his head and said: “It depends on whoever has money.”
Sanco’s regional deputy chairperson of the interim committee, Connie Mashego, is a disappointed visionary with great ideas for the organisation and the people of the region.
Like Ratswana, Mashego also believes numerous obstacles are being overlooked on the path of growth and development for the organisation.
Mashego believes Sanco should be retaining its position as the vanguard that protects the rights of the consumer. She argued consumers have been left to the mercy of unscrupulous traders who flout the rules and laws of trade by fluctuating consumer prices without fear of the law.
She also lambasted the selfishness of ‘slothful leaders’ who have no interest in serving their communities through the stipulated rules and regulations of the organisation.
“People are more interested in serving their selfish egos rather than dedicating their service to the communities in their constituencies.”
She listed the following three types of leadership as destructive to the effective functions of Sanco: leaders with bloated egos, leaders who fail to govern the organisation according to guiding documents, and leaders who don’t understand the character of Sanco.
“We are not short of members, but we have fragmented regions and parallel structures dividing the organisation,” explained Mashego.
